Crimson
by Firebreather23
Summary: A holiday special from Fire to all her fans. The CBI team investigates the murder of Brandon Lane who was shot in San Diego. Read to see all of the progressions in terms of relationships that we all hope to see soon in the show. Jisbon mainly


**Hello- I started a new story for the holidays. Think of it as a __________________ (fill in holiday name) present from me to you. I hope you enjoy it.**

**P.S.- it's considered common courtesy to give gifts to people who give you gifts, so review and I'll be happy :)**

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**DISCLAIMER**

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Everyone's eyes were following the yellow rubber ball casually being thrown in the air. The blonde consultant smiled as he looked around the semi-circle gathered around him, each concentrating on the ball going up and down. Their eyes lost the serious tone they had a few minutes before, growing wider in anticipation that made them look like little kids waiting impatiently for their ice cream. He took one last look at each, making notes about their mood. The man to his left was hungry, he sat closest to the kitchen. The girl in the middle was nervous, checking behind her every once in a while to make sure her new boss wasn't coming. And the stoic asain was determined to find out his secrets. Jane knew it bothered him that he hardly knew anything about the tricks he so constantly pulled.

The next time he threw the ball up, it didn't come down. He smiled wider as a fun-sized cop walked into the bullpen half smiling, half smirking, "Are you having fun?"

Grace VanPelt was the first to scurry back to her desk, avioding eye-contact with Special Agent Teresa Lisbon. Cho simply stood from the spot he was squatting in front of the worn leather couch and walked to the file cabinet to look through some case files, and Rigsby scooched past the only woman that has ever scared him to sneak in front of the open refrigerator. Lisbon strode in front of her weakest team member and stopped standing feet shoulder width apart, holding her coffee cup casually. The sleepy magician looked up innocently to meet her faked-mad expression.

"Oh, hey Lisbon," he said like nothing happened, "I like your shirt today."

The plan for acting tough and hoping it frightened him into not bothering her today failed miserably with a crash and burn when a blush crawled up her face and she looked down to remind herself which shirt she decided to wear this morning, "uh…thanks," she paused to bring the conversation back to the point she was originally planning on making, "My team needs to work and you can't keep on distracting them."

His face dropped, "You're right, Lisbon. I'm sorry- they should be working. I'll try to do better in the future."

"Okay…" she said confused. Cho and Jane watched their boss close the door to her office.

"Really?" Cho inquired.

He shrugged, "No, I just wanted her to leave."

Cho shook his head before bringing his attention back to the case files. When he was sure it was safe to come out, Rigsby went back to his desk chewing some sort of meat that looked like it belonged in an elementary school's mystery hot-lunch, "So how did you do it?"

By that time Jane was already lying back on his couch and focusing on a certain point on the ceiling, "Do what?"

VanPelt couldn't take it anymore. She gave up the worker-bee act, "How did you make the ball disappear? Where is it now?" She said after dropping her pen on the floor and abandoning her computer.

Jane played dumb, "I honestly don't know what you're talking about. The ball didn't disappear."

The three criminal investigators exchanged suspicious looks, "Then where is it?" Cho spoke up.

"Meh, you'll see."

They all watched him closely to try and catch him pulling it out of his pocket or sleeve, forgetting that Lisbon would be coming out to go over their current case any second, "Who put this in my office and why are you all staring at Jane sleeping?" she sounded really angry- that wasn't Jane's intention, but in his eyes it just meant more fun trying to get her to calm down.

She stood holding a small yellow ball and eyeing her agents. She was waiting for a 'Sorry, boss', or 'We'll be right on those case reviews, boss.' But neither came and it made her dispostion worsen. Her team stared at her hand dumbfounded and turned back to Jane in unison.

"Who wants to play desk jockey for the next month?" she waited, but again no one answered. At least she had their attention now, "That's what I thought." Again no one moved to the confrence table. She rolled her eyes annoyed, "Case review people!"

"Oh! Sorry, boss," they all said like a choir of morons. She was ready to beat all their head together from their ignorance.

VanPelt was the first to speak once everyone was seated, "Brandon Lane, professional football player, 24 years old, was found dead just outside of the San Diego city limits. Mulitple gun shot wounds to the head and chest. We know that he was in debt due to gambling problems, but to no one who would be likely to kill him. We know of one particular aquaintance of his that was upset with him because of a fight over a football game, Mark Slater. That is according to Kimberly O'Neil, the victim's girl friend of 2 years."

The red headed agent paused and then allowed herself to breathe. She looked to her boss to see if she was still upset, which she was, "What else do we know?"

"We know that the game he and Slater was arguing over was the game that got Slater kicked off the team," Rigsby added.

"Right. Everyone go back home and get ready, we're going to have to stay in a hotel for the next week in San Diego," _Joy,_ she thought to herself sarcastically, "meet at the airport for the next flight after 11:00."

She drug her feet back inside her office dying a little inside at the thought of having to spend a week just down the hall from Patrick Jane- it was going to be hell. Trying to cheer herself up, she looked on the bright side of things and concluded that it wasn't that bad since she wasn't going to be stuck doing house work all week…optimism never helped her too much, and for that she becomes more pessimistic. It was a horrible circle of attempts to feel better only to find something worse- in this case she may not have to do housework but she does have to babysit four adults for 168 hours straight. Whoopie.

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**11:30- Sacramento Airport**

"Does everyone have everything they need for the week? It's seven days of flying bullets- does everyone have their vests?" Lisbon asked in her best impression of a mother of four. She jokingly made her voice sound less stern than usual and placed a gentle hand on Rigsby's shoulder, which made him flinch.

Their faces became sullen as they all nodded their heads and rolled their eyes, all except Jane, "No, I forgot mine."

Lisbon dropped the act and turned toward the security check point without another word. If he gets shot that's his own problem. He runs away from the scene with his hands in the air as soon as he sees a gun anyway. Jane followed obidiently observing the area around him. He checked everyone's destination tags on their carry-ons as Lisbon and her team walked right past the line and to the policeman who wasn't amused with them, "Hey, you have to wait in the line just like everyone else!" he said loudly.

The long line of people behind them chimed in accordingly, "Yeah, that's not fair! Get in the back of the line!"

"Relax people," Lisbon said facing the line, "we're with the CBI, see?" She held out her badge for everyone to look at.

"Yeah!" Jane started. The four agents knew what was coming- Lisbon's heart sank, Cho turned his face away from everyone staring, VanPelt looked around embarrased, and Rigsby chuckled under his breath, "we're with the serious crimes unit and we're investigating a murder."

With his words everyone fell silent, "That's enough, Jane." Lisbon said grabbing his arm and pulling him away.

"No wait," he pushed her away, "if anyone has a problem with that my friend Teresa will have to tackle and arrest you."

Lisbon instictively turned to VanPelt to avert attention, but realized how immature it was, "Jane! Shutup and come with me damn it!" she whispered behind him.

"Who died?" a man asked from the line.

"We don't like to discuss-" Cho was cut off before he finished.

"A man named Brandon Lane," Jane announced proudly, "And we already know the killer."

Today wasn't the Senior Agent's day and Patrick Jane wasn't helping. She was glad he neglected his bullet proof vest (as if he ever wore it any other time), because she couldn't wait to feed him to the mob once they were in San Diego. She turned to face Jane and saw that he was pointing in front of him, toward her co-workers already chasing down the man in the line who asked the question a few seconds again. He ran too fast for Rigsby and Cho, they were never the fastest, and VanPelt was just a hair too slow. Lisbon knew she was going to have to take him down.

The smaller agent passed the biggest two fast enough and was quickly catching up to VanPelt. The man darted down two flights of stairs and turned a corner with them on his heels. Lisbon made a split decision and continued straight knowing where they would end up. Sure enough, she was throwing him to the ground and cuffing him while reciting his rights in record time.

She started to wonder what her team does during their weekly workouts when it took a few minutes for Rigsby, Cho, and Jane to catch up.

"See, I wasn't lying when I said she was going to tackle you," Jane said between breaths.

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